The North Little Rock School District announced Friday it won't hire a Washington, D.C., public relations firm to help its communications efforts, after all.
"The North Little Rock School District will not enter an agreement with Woodberry Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, to support the Communications Office," according to the district's weekly e-mailed newsletter, "Superintendent's Top 5 Things You Should Know This Week."
"The district will develop a long-term plan to reorganize the Communications Office."
The North Little Rock School Board decided on Aug. 17 to adopt a "District Communication Support Plan," which included hiring Woodberry Associates for $75,000 for a six-month period and working with the firm remotely and virtually.
Cindy Temple, President Dorothy Williams, Rochelle Redus, Natalie Wankum and Valerie McLean voted for approval. Board member Tracy Steele voted no. Angela Person-West was not present during the vote.
In response to a question Friday as to when the School Board reversed its vote to enter into a contract with the D.C. firm, district Communications Director Dustin Barnes said in an email: "The board had approved the contract with Woodberry & Associates. It was on the agenda. Please see our Board Brief from two weeks ago that you received. After further discussion, the district decided to go another route and reorganize the Communications Office." He did not respond to further questions.
A review of board meetings since Aug. 17 show the board has met once since then, an Aug. 24 personnel hearing. There is no record that the board met to reverse its decision and there is no indication on future, scheduled meetings that show the board is considering to do so.
At the Aug. 17 meeting, Steele was the only board member who publicly expressed concern about the hiring of the Washington firm.
"To my knowledge, this is the first time that I can remember in my term on this board, for granting this sizeable a contract, and the people didn't even feel enough respect for us to be sitting in these chairs right here," Steele said Aug. 17. "Mr. Superintendent, you are not the spokesperson for Woodberry, you're the spokesperson for the district. We need these people here to answer questions."
Steele added that the board would be spending taxpayer money on an organization that will not visit the city.
"The first chunk of their time is going to be spent getting to know us and us getting to know them, but we only have six months. My other question is what happens after the six months? It doesn't say in here. It's three pages that they have written in this proposal; it doesn't say anything about follow-up."
Some parents and teachers who attended the Aug. 17 meeting spoke against the proposal, saying their main concern was that the firm is not located in North Little Rock.
Josie George, a parent and member of the Parent-Teacher Association at Crestwood Elementary, said Aug. 17 that she agreed with Steele's take on hiring Woodberry Associates.
"The Woodberry proposal was three pages and they're not local," she said. "I think we have a lot of talent right here in North Little Rock that already knows the community, so I was disappointed with how quickly it moved and how much money it is -- and the timing is really bad. I think with the division in North Little Rock as it is, that it's really, it absolutely undermines their credibility, which is really strained right now."
Information for this article was contributed by Paige Eichkorn of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.